A bit overdue, perhaps, but our mini marathon of Christmas cookie baking took place yesterday. Originally my Mom and I had planned on baking early in the day, but it was snowing and we decided to get some errands done first.

We ended up making four different types, two old and two new recipes. At our house, there are always a few Christmas “classics” that are a tradition in our family and can never, ever be skipped. In recent years these have included Spice Molasses Cookies, Aunt Mary Cookies, Greek Holiday Twists, Chocolate Crinkles, and Nutmeg Meltaways. Yesterday we made the Spice Molasses Cookies and the Aunt Mary Cookies.

The Spice Molasses Cookies are a subtle nod to our beloved Paradise Bakery Ginger Molasses Cookies. Although not as thick as Paradise’s, they are not too spicy, perfectly chewy, and taste of brown sugar and molasses. To our family, everything about them says “Christmas is here”.

The Aunt Mary Cookies get their name from my Mom’s Great Aunt Mary, a very Greek woman with a love for baking. Every Christmas, she would send packages of baked goods, including these cookies, to my Mom’s family when she was younger. What is so neat about her recipes is that she created them herself. Her filled cookies, pictured here, are a mix between a pastry and a cookie. The dough has cream cheese in it, which gives it a slight tang, and its flaky layers work beautifully with the fruit filling. Aunt Mary asked my Mom to keep the recipe in the family, so I will not post the recipe, although hopefully it will still inspire creative minds on the search for Christmas cookie ideas.

With two traditional cookies taken care of, I decided to try two new recipes (Obviously we are going to have to have another Christmas cookie baking day, or else “it won’t be Christmas”). The first was Shortbread Checkerboard Cookies. I wanted to make these soleybecause of their picture. They look so neat! The dough doesn’t require any long periods of chilling, which is nice, although if you’re going to try this recipe, a note of warning: these call for a lot of patience. The dough can be sticky at times, making it difficult to work with. An easy way to prevent this would be to stick it back in the freezer for a bit, but I was a baker on a speed mission. I also discovered this dough is easier to work with if you assemble it on parchment paper, rather than directly on your work surface, because it won’t stick to the work surface that way.

After all that rolling, cutting, and stacking, I was delighted at the beautiful checkerboard pattern on my cookies. The dough has a hint of citrus flavor from orange zest, and it works wonderfully with the buttery sugar dough and the chocolate. I also used toasted pecans instead of toasted hazenuts.

The fourth cookie was Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies.  I am so impressed with these. These are small crackled chocolate cookies. There is not a lot butter, so they don’t spread much. Beaten eggs contribute to their distinctive, light texture, which helps them not to be too rich. Use the best quality bittersweet chocolate you can find, it will make these taste even better. Ground toasted almonds, cinnamon, and ancho chile powder are also added to the dough. The cinnamon and chile powder add warmth, but don’t worry, when you bite into the cookie you aren’t going to think “There’s chile powder in here”. Rather, it brings out the chocolate flavor even more and you feel the tiniest amount of heat in the back of your throat.

The balls of dough are then rolled in granulated sugar, to give it some cracks and crunch, then rolled generously in powdered sugar, adding a coolness to the warmth in the cookie.

And on to the recipes…

Spice Molasses Cookies

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Granulated sugar, for rolling

Cream shortening. Add the sugar, egg, and molasses and mix well. Combine the flour with the remaining ingredients and gradually add to the shortening-sugar mixture until blended. Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes (tops will crack).

Yield: 4 dozen

Checkerboard Cookies (Recipe from www.joyofbaking.com)

• 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest (1 medium orange)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Bake hazelnuts for 15 minutes or until skins start to blister. Remove from the oven and wrap in a clean towel so the nuts can “steam” for 5 minutes. Rub the towel briskly in a back and forth motion to remove the skins from the hazelnuts. Set aside to cool. When cool, place the hazelnuts in a food processor along with the cocoa powder and process until the hazelnuts are finely ground. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.

In a bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest and beat until well blended. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.

Divide the dough in half and place one half of the dough back into the bowl of your electric mixer. Add the cocoa and hazelnut mixture to the dough and beat until incorporated. Set aside.

Lay out two large sheets of parchment paper (about 10 x 12 inches) and on one sheet of parchment roll out the white dough into a 6 1/2 inch by 10 inch rectangle, making sure both sides of the dough are smooth. If the dough is too sticky, put in the freezer for a few minutes or place another sheet of parchment paper on top to sandwich the dough as you roll. Wrap the dough and place on a baking sheet in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until the dough is firm.

Meanwhile, take the chocolate dough and remove 1/2 cup (used later for wrapping the checkerboard log) and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside. On the second sheet of parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough into a 6 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch rectangle, making sure both sides of the dough are smooth. Wrap the dough and place on a baking sheet in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until dough is firm.

When both the white and chocolate dough are firm, remove from the freezer and lay the white dough on a cutting board, removing any wrapping. I found it was easier to work with the dough if I put a piece of parchment paper over the cutting board. Lightly brush the top of the white dough with a little water (this helps the layers to stick together). Remove the parchment paper from the chocolate dough and place it evenly on top of the white dough. Trim the edges of the two doughs so the rectangle now measures 6 inches by 10 inches (Take the chocolate dough trimmings and add to the 1/2 cup reserved chocolate dough).

Lengthwise cut the rectangle into thirds (Three 2 inch by 10 inch strips). Place one strip on a piece of plastic wrap. Brush the top of the dough with water and place the second strip on top of the first (alternate colors so you have a black, white, black pattern). Brush the top of the second layer with water and stack the third layer. Press down lightly on top of the dough and then wrap and freeze for 15 minutes, or until firm.

When firm, remove from freezer and unwrap, placing the dough on a cutting board. Using a sharp long knife, cut the layers lengthwise into 1/2-inch wide and 10 inch long strips (You will end up with 4 strips). Stack the layers, turning every other strip so top faces down and bottom faces up, to produce the checkerboard effect. Rewrap the stack and place in freezer again to firm up.

Meanwhile, take the reserved chocolate dough trimmings and 1/2 cup and roll out on a piece of parchment paper into approximately 9 1/2-inch x 10 1/2-inch rectangle, making sure the dough is smooth. Cover and refrigerate until slightly firm.

Remove the stack of checkerboard dough from freezer and place in center of chocolate dough. Wrap the chocolate dough around the checkerboard layers until you have a smoothsurface that encloses the checkerboard design. Wrap in plastic and freeze until firm. The dough can be frozen for up to a month.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove dough from the freezer and place on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut the block of dough into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart, and bake from 5-7 minutes or until cookies just start to brown around the edges. The edges will also feel firm. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week.

Yield: About 3 dozen

Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies (The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet)

• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur or cooled brewed coffee
• 6 ounces 70 percent cacao bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) whole almonds, toasted and cooled completely
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder (optional) Note: I couldn’t find it at my grocery store so I put a dried ancho chile pepper in the food processor to create my own.
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) unsifted confectioner’s sugar

Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in the bottom of the double boiler. Place the butter, liqueur, and chocolate in the top of the double boiler (off the heat). Turn off the heat, then set the chocolate mixture over the steaming water. Stir occasionally with the spatula until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove and let cool slightly while you whip the eggs.

Place the eggs and 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar in the bowl of the mixer and whip on high speed until very light in color and thick, 5 to 6 minutes. You can also use a hand mixer and medium bowl, although you may need to beat the mixture a little longer to achieve the same results. Scrape the melted chocolate mixture into the eggs and whip until blended, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Place the flour, nuts, cinnamon, baking powder, and chile powder (if using) in the food processor and process until the nuts are very finely chopped, 60-90 seconds. Add the flour mixture to theegg mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Stir gently a few times withthe spatula to make sure there are no patches of unincorporated flour or butter lurking near the bottom of the bowl. Cover the dough with plastic and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, until firm.

Preheat the over to 325 degrees F and position an oven rack in the center. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop the chilled dough into tablespoon-size balls using a mini ice cream scoop or a spoon. Place the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in one small bowl and the confectioner’s sugar in the other. Roll each dough ball in the granulated sugar and then in the confectioner’s sugar. Be sure to coat the dough generously with the confectioner’s sugar-in this instance, more is better. Space the cookies about 1 1/2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking time, for 11-14 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and cracked. If you nudge a cookie, it should slide on the sheet rather than stick. It is better to slightly underbake these cookies than to go too far- when overbaked they are dry and unpalatable. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.

Yield: About 45 cookies